Bars, restaurants prep for responsible alcohol training deadline

Restaurants and bars are working to train their staff ahead of the province’s Sunday deadline to have practices in place for responsibly serving patrons. 

Christian Friesen, an assistant general manager of Gahan House Nova Centre on Sackville Street, said the restaurant has been making multiple announcements to staff to complete the training. He said the training will help a lot of establishments.  

“Especially here in the downtown core with all of these bars that are open late, it (the training) will change the way bartenders approach people and the levels of drunkenness that they are,” he said.

“How many drinks they’ve had, how many drinks they’re giving to people at one time … and then ideally reduce rowdiness downtown in the long run.” 

Colton LeBlanc, minister of Service Nova Scotia, announced on Aug. 6 that servers, bartenders, supervisors, managers, and staff working for festivals must complete the training by Dec. 1.

“Training servers at bars, restaurants and some festivals in responsible alcohol service will help them recognize and address the risks of over-serving alcohol,” said Service Nova Scotia spokesperson Rachel Boomer. 

The two approved programs in the province are Serve Right, offered by the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia, and Safe Check, operated by Canadian Food Safety Consulting Group, a company that provides food safety certification programs.

Both programs are conducted online.

Boomer said those training programs are specific to Nova Scotia requirements. 

Serve Right costs $35 for servers and $50 for managers. Safe Check costs $29.98.   

Deadline extension

Natasha Chestnut, an executive director of the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia (RANS), said the training will affect 2,400 licensed establishments in the province. She said the required training is to provide staff with the skills to ensure patrons are drinking responsibly and safely.  

RANS previously asked the province to extend the deadline because this time of the year is busy for establishments. Chestnut said the province wouldn’t budge. 

“It’s a very busy time for the industry. And we just want folks to have more opportunity and more time to do the training,” she said.  

Although RANS were asking for an extended deadline, the association supports the required training. 

“It’s an extra step that folks can be taking to help do our part to ensure safety. We want people to go out to our establishments across the province and have a good time and have a safe time,” Chestnut said. 

Training provides increased safety

Noah Gunn, a server at Gahan House Nova Centre, has already completed the training. He said the training wasn’t bad because it was common knowledge for people who work in the food service industry.  

The training for him took a little over three hours. He said the course consisted of knowing when and how to serve people, when to cut people off, how patrons should act in a restaurant, how to encourage your guests to act properly, and knowledge of alcohol. 

Gunn said the training would be helpful for everyone in the industry, especially those new to it.  

“I think one thing when you’re new that’s hard is knowing when to cut someone off or be assertive. I think it’ll definitely help with that aspect a lot,” he said. 

The province has issued six suspensions to bars and restaurants holding liquor licences since August. Pacifico Grill & Lounge, for example, received a three-day licence suspension on Aug. 15, after a female patron was left behind in a washroom after the bar closed in December 2023.